STO sells onions at MVR 40 per kilo

State Trading Organization (STO) has airfreighted a shipment of onions and begun selling it at a lower rate in a bid to counter soaring market prices for the product.

STO says the onion shipment is available for sale from the STO Supermart at the rate of MVR 40 per kilo.

The price of onions in the local market is presently in the range of MVR 65 – MVR 75 per kilo, while the price of a sack of onions is in the range of MVR 1,000 – MVR 1,600.

Local traders have attributed the high prices to a global shortage in supply of onions, and especially a slowdown in export of onions from India – Maldives’s main supplier of the product.

The price of onions has been fluctuating for the past three months. Local traders expect the price to go down and stay down in January.